Dornach / Büsserach - Zwei Pergamenturkunden - 1590

An exceptionally vivid testimony to village life more than 430 years ago: the large-format parchment deed from 1590 regulates, down to the detail, the cohabitation of the Dornach community and has both original seals preserved in their wooden protective capsules. It is complemented by a Schiedsspruch issued on the same day regarding the border and pasture dispute with the neighboring community of Büsserach.

Dornach / Büsserach (Canton of Solothurn). Two related parchment deeds for the municipal order as well as the settlement of a border and pasture dispute. Dornach, June 14, 1590. Two large-format German manuscripts on parchment, each folded several times.
1. Community bylaws of Dornach, with regulations on pasture rights, common land, cattle drive, field use and village life. With two wax seals attached to parchment strips in original turned wooden capsules. 30 × 43 cm
2. Arbitration decision between Dornach and Büsserach regarding a border and pasture dispute, with the establishment of municipal boundaries and mutual usage rights. 26 × 34 cm
--------------------------------------
The two documents issued on June 14, 1590 are conceptually tied to each other. They arose against the background of disputes over pastures, forests, cattle drives and municipal boundaries in the Dornach and Büsserach area and document the attempt to permanently regulate both internal relations within the community and conflicts with the neighbors in a legal framework.

The first deed regulates the inner affairs of the Dornach community. Central are the communal use of pastures and forest, cattle drive, protection of fields and the rights and duties of the community members. Violations of the established order were punished with fines. The document thus vividly shows how closely economic use, municipal law and the safeguarding of village peace were intertwined.

The second deed extends beyond the village borders. A protracted dispute between Dornach and Büsserach over pasture rights and boundary lines was submitted to a five-member arbitration commission. The arbitrators inspected the disputed areas and determined the boundary line based on waterways, fences, marked boundary stones and other terrain markers. At the same time, the mutual pasture rights were conclusively established.

What is particularly interesting is the interplay between the two documents: while the arbitration decision defined the external borders and rights vis-à-vis the neighboring municipality, the municipal bylaws on the same day regulated the use of these rights within Dornach. The two deeds thus document two aspects of the same process—drawing the line outward and organizing the community inward.

The sovereign safeguard occurred within the milieu of the Solothurnese administration of the lordship of Dorneck. The documents mention, among others, Caspar von Loubenberg and Alexander Straub, who is named as the Vorvogt (deputy bailiff) of the lordship of Dorneck. The two wax seals attached to the municipal deed in their turned wooden capsules emphasize the legal character and the exceptionally vivid transmission of the ensemble.

A closed early modern collection of deeds for the local legal, economic and social history of the Canton of Solothurn.
--------------------------------------
Both parchment deeds with their original folds and age-related stains or soiling, but overall well legible and substantially preserved. In the municipal bylaws, both wax seals are in very good condition, as are the two original turned wooden capsules and parchment hangers. Overall, a remarkably well-preserved, closed deed ensemble from the late 16th century.